1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to an improved internal combustion engine having a substantially horizontal cylinder and a substantially vertical crank shaft.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
There are known internal combustion engines having a substantially horizontal cylinder and a substantially vertical crank shaft. One such internal combustion engine is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 54-27615 published Mar. 1, 1979. According to the disclosed internal combustion engine, a crank case can be divided into parts along a plane lying obliquely to the direction in which a piston can reciprocate and the axis of a crank shaft, so that crank shaft bearings can be precision-machined and the overall engine can easily be assembled.
When disassembling the prior internal combustion engine for servicing or repair, however, the piston cannot be removed unless a crank pin is pulled out to separate the crank shaft from a connecting rod and take out the crank shaft in advance. The present invention has been made in an effort to eliminate such an inconvenient disassembling procedure.